Two shot and four police hurt by bomb
One villager was killed and another injured in shootings, while a bomb left four police injured in the deep South yesterday.
The blast took place in the early morning when a team of policemen, soldiers and local administrative staff went to inspect burning tyres left in the middle of the Rangae-Kujingluepa road in Rangae district. Investigating officials said the 5-kilogram home-made bomb was hidden in a nearby bridge and believe militants used the burning tyres to lure officials to the spot. In Joh I Rong district, 57-year-old Lateh Arwae was shot dead by two gunmen hiding in a forested area as he walked to a local mosque. Police said insurgents might have been behind the attack but did not rule out personal conflict as a motive. In Pattani's Saiburi district, Charan Petchprasert was critically injured in a drive-by shooting. Charan, chief of the mechanical division at the Pasaeyawo Tambon Administrative Organisation, was riding his motorcycle home during his lunch break when two men on a motorcycle fired at him, hitting him once in the head. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas said yesterday there have been discussions about reviving the defunct Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre. He said SPBAC might be able to start work at the beginning of next month. More than 1,700 people have been killed since the beginning of 2004 and the government is struggling to contain the violence. Reviving the SBPAC is one of the moves being suggested to restore peace. Boonrawd said the new SBPAC would consider dropping charges against 58 people held in custody since the bloody protest at Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat two years ago. Human-rights activists have called for the charges to be dropped because there is no evidence against any of the accused - some of whom claim they were just bystanders. The Nation Narathiwat
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